Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) guidance
Statutory
The Department for Education has launched a new page on the Foundation Years website to provide teachers with support to complete the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Profile. This will be updated regularly throughout the 2023/24 academic year. Each update will cover a new area of the EYFS Profile, focusing on topics where the sector has asked for more information. The first update provides information on how to complete the EYFS Profile for children with special educational needs and disabilities, and includes case studies and key information from the EYFS Profile 2025 handbook.
EYFS Profile 2023/24 Handbook
This publication provides guidance to local authorities and early years providers from the Standards and Testing Agency (STA), an executive agency of the Department for Education (DfE), which is responsible for ensuring early years foundation stage (EYFS) profile outcomes are reliable.
EYFS statutory framework 2025
This framework is mandatory for all early years providers in England, maintained schools; non-maintained schools; independent schools; all providers on the Early Years Register; and all providers registered with an early years childminder agency. The document is available in the downloads section below or click the link here.
Non-statutory
Development Matters
DfE non-statutory curriculum guidance for the early years foundation stage. View and download publication.
Birth to 5 Matters
The document is intended to work with members’ many values, principles and aspirations. View and download publication.
In this video, Sam Sleeman-Boss talks about a topic we are commonly asked about – ratios. Sam explains that we are not trying to catch you out; we just want to know you are keeping children safe and providing high-quality education and care.
In this video, Sam Sleeman-Boss explains what inspectors do to hear from parents and carers during inspection.
In this video, Sam Sleeman-Boss, our Early Years Regulatory Inspector and Early Education Quality and Practice Lead, explains the types of feedback you will receive during your inspection, who you can share it with and the importance of that professional dialogue at the heart of inspection
September 2025, there is a new requirement in the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the EYFS that providers ‘should’ have regard to this nutrition guidance. This means providers must take this guidance into account and should follow it unless there is good reason not to. This guidance will support providers to understand how to implement the existing EYFS requirement that states: ‘Where children are provided with meals, snacks and drinks, these must be healthy, balanced and nutritious'.
This includes advice on:
∙ Legislation the publication refers to
∙ Birth to 1 year
∙ Babies 0-6 months
∙ Breastfeeding
∙ Infant formula
∙ Babies 6-12 months
∙ Introducing solids and weening
∙ Guidance for children aged 1-5
∙ A healthy plate
∙ 4 food groups
∙ Food and drink guidelines
∙ Traffic light labels
∙ Portion size
∙ School food standards
∙ Menu planning
∙ Weekly menus
∙ Planning menus
∙ Recipes
∙ Example meals and snacks
∙ Communication with parents/carers
∙ Developing a food and nutrition policy
∙ Food from home
∙ Food safety and hygiene
∙ Celebrations
∙ Cost effective food
∙ Planning food activities
∙ Meeting the needs of all children
∙ Allergies
∙ Food intolerances
∙ Coeliac disease
∙ Food for religious faiths
∙ Children with additional needs and special diets
∙ Top tips for safely managing special diets
∙ Disadvantage children
∙ Free school meals
∙ NHS Healthy Start
Further Information can be found in the link below or the PDF
Early Years Foundation Stage Nutrition Guidance for group and school-based providers and childminders in England.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-nutrition